Kama Sutra

In order to film in India, the production had to use a fake title "Tara and Maya." Indian authorities would not have permitted the film to be made there had they known its true title and content.

The story of this film is set in the sixteenth century. Young Maya is running through red chili pepper drying in the sun on the palace grounds. Chillies didn't reach Indian cuisine until the seventeenth century.

The director Mira Nair suffered approximately 2 years bringing the film from censorship to lawsuits, and to the highest court due to the film's sexual content, the C.B.F.C. (Central Board of Film Certification) banned the film before being passed with an 'A' (18+) certificate in 1997 with small cuts to nudity made and all sex scenes reduced. After cuts were made to the English-language version, all Indian dubbed versions have this cut version, and no further cuts were made. The film was released theatrically in India in February 1998. It remains cut in India, but uncut worldwide.

Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Jungle 2 Jungle/The Daytrippers/Kama Sutra/Good Luck/Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets (1997)